BWH Team Heart: Mending Hearts in Rwanda

"I did not expect to be operated on in Rwanda. I expected that I would grow up with this sickness. This team did miracles, they performed wonders." - Celestin Gasamaza, 25, the first patient to receive life-saving surgery from Team Heart

Denise Ricci, RN, and Celestin Gasamaza. Photos courtesy McCardinal Photo.

April 2008: 11 Lives Changed

"Will I be able to farm again to feed my family?"

Those were the first words Alice spoke after waking up in the intensive care unit at King Faisal Hospital following open-heart surgery.

Thanks to the surgery, Alice can return to farming, and 10 other Rwandan patients can do things they previously could not because of debilitating heart disease. These 11 patients were the first to receive heart surgery as part of Team Heart's volunteer mission to King Faisal Hospital in Kigali, Rwanda.

In April 2008, the team--comprised of 36 clinicians from BWH and elsewhere--kicked off what promises to be a decade-long mission to help bring heart surgery to Rwanda. During the inaugural visit in April, Team Heart educated staff at King Faisal and operated on and provided care for 11 patients from across the country.

One patient plans to return to school to get his degree. Another, a 17-year-old boy, hopes to begin playing soccer and taking karate with his peers--activities he was too weak to participate in throughout most of his childhood.

View photos, videos and daily updates from the inaugural mission in April on Team Heart's blog: http://teamheart.blogspot.com 

About the Mission

Team Heart is led by BWH's Leslie Sabatino, RN, Chip Bolman, MD, Chief of Cardiac Surgery, and Ceeya Patton-Bolman, RN. They work closely with Gene Bukhman, MD, of Partners In Health, and many others to make this mission possible.

The goal: In collaboration with Partners In Health, King Faisal Hospital in Kigali, Rwanda, and the Rwandan Ministry of Health, Team Heart aims to help King Faisal Hospital set up a self-sustaining cardiac surgery program to serve the thousands of Rwandans desparately in need of life-saving heart surgery.

Why Rwanda: Rheumatic heart disease, one of the most common medical problems in Africa, leaves young adults suffocating for years on the brink of death as a result of heart valve injury from untreated strep throat. Rwanda lacks the resources to deliver chronic interventions, such as penicillin, and the operations to save the most critical patients.

Video: Leslie Sabatino, RN, (pictured above with patient Alice) talks about the need for heart surgery in Rwanda. View the video and read more about Team Heart.

Health Care and Heart Disease in Rwanda

Rwanda, the most densely populated country in Africa, is slightly smaller than the state of Maryland. The adult HIV prevalence is about 3.1% of the population, and average life expectancy at birth is 44 years. View the chart for numbers of health care providers and personnel as compared to the total population of Rwanda.

How to Help

The needs are great in Rwanda, and there are many ways you can help Team Heart achieve its goals. Gifts of cash, frequent flyer miles, medical equipment, medical journals and nursing textbooks are appreciated and go a long way in making this effort successful. Learn more about helping Team Heart make a difference.

Contact

For more information on Team Heart, contact Leslie Sabatino, RN, at lsabatino@partners.org or 617-620-9127.